


Anger

by Resoan



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-10
Updated: 2015-09-10
Packaged: 2018-04-20 03:01:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4770989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Resoan/pseuds/Resoan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After traveling to the Exalted Plains and aiding Solas with the Spirit of Wisdom, Nehn Lavellan has a vendetta of her own to settle: against the Freemen of the Dales. Her anger visibly changes her, but Solas comforts her, just as she did for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Anger

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written on tumblr for Dwynnie.

The Exalted Plains had once been a home for her people, and the very first time Nehn Lavellan stepped foot upon it, she could only despair at what it’d become since the Exalted March for which the region had subsequently been named. 

Demons roamed the  _shem_ -trampled ground, freed by the Breach and the nearby rifts Scout Harding had warned her of at the forward camp. Even more than the demons were the undead who now haunted the ramparts of Celene and Gaspard’s  _pointless_  war and waste of life: a grim reminder of every soldier’s fate, even if it was not to be found on the battlefield, fighting for political minds who cared little for their soldiers’ well-being.

On top of  _all_  that, Nehn was not about to tolerate a group of human calling themselves the  _Freeman_  of the  _Dales_ ; her very blood set to boiling the moment she’d heard the name pass from Scout Harding’s lips, but if any of her companions saw a fist clench at her side as they headed west, no one made note of it.

Their goal, however, had not been eliminating the humans: not yet. A spirit had been in distress somewhere on the Plains, and Solas had requested they save it from its slavery to the ignorant mages. Nehn had taken up the cause without so much as a second thought: both because Solas was important to her, and because he cared so deeply for a spirit - his  _friend_. She knew before they left Skyhold that asking for Vivienne or Cassandra’s help in the matter would likely be met with disapproval if not outright disdain: such was why Blackwall and Cole journeyed with her and Solas in their stead.

They found the spirit after a day or so of looking. Breaking its bindings was difficult but not impossible, but even so…there was no saving it after the ordeal it had endured. Nehn longed to give Solas comfort in some way, but even as he turned to her, the last of the mages falling at his heels from his terrible wrath, she knew he wouldn’t let her - said as much before disappearing in the blink of an eye.

It felt like weeks had gone by until Solas finally reappeared in Skyhold’s courtyard, weary with eyes sunken and hunched posture. Nehn had even begun wondering if Solas were coming back at all, though it was an unfounded fear: she trusted him more than that, and while his extended absence was slightly alarming, it was unwarranted. She offered him her sympathies, for whatever he deemed their worth and sincerity. 

Hearing the words of another seemed to lighten the burden weighing down his shoulders, and Nehn was relieved to see his heavy expression twist into the slightest of smiles at her consideration. Now that her concern for Solas had been allayed, however, her focus returned to the Exalted Plains, and the so-called freedom fighters who were, in reality, taking advantage of the chaos to further their own selfishness and greed. 

 _No more_ , Nehn vowed.

It was two days later that she and her companions set out for the Exalted Plains once more, their leader’s fierce determination earning a few curious looks though none would question her aim: the Freemen of the Dales were a menace to an already-taxed and suffering region, and if the Inquisition could help, they would do so. That Nehn seemed to hold this quest particularly personal only made her companions that much more inclined to succeed.

The ramparts were crawling with animated corpses, and the first arcane horror caught the party by surprise; it was a hard-won fight, and one no one escaped from without a few injuries. They camped before pressing onward: towards the Eastern Ramparts and Victory Rise, but even after clearing the Exalted Plains of the bastards, it wasn’t over.

She’d found a scrap of a note left behind where they’d fallen, a ripped missive detailing goings-on in the Emerald Graves and a possible connection to the red templars. The parchment crumpled easily in Nehn’s fist, and she mentally planned a trip to the Emerald Graves once everything was settled on the Plains.

The journey back to camp was silent save for Cole’s quiet hums which seemed more unconscious than intentional. Nehn’s shoulders were tensed, arms swinging angrily at her sides, and one of the scouts even flinched away from her glare when she strode past him, the gold of her eyes glinting dangerously in the bright rays of the setting sun.

Solas and Blackwall exchanged glances when Nehn gave her report to the scouts, though none seemed terribly enthused that the Freemen of the Dales would no longer be a problem on the Exalted Plains - perhaps it was the intensity with which Nehn spoke, and how readily she stalked away once she was done. 

“I will speak with her,” Solas finally murmured to the warrior, and Blackwall merely nodded his assent as his eyes roved to the Inquisitor’s back.

Nehn had settled at the edge of camp, eyes staring out into the darkness as she lost herself in thought. Solas walked slowly, deliberately, waiting for her to discern his presence and look back: such a welcome and gesture he did not receive. 

“Inquisitor.” She didn’t turn back even then, though he could see the tension in her shoulders, in the set of her jaw, and he reached out a hand to her shoulder. “These Freemen - their actions are reprehensible, yes, but they seem to have burrowed under your skin. They bother you, seemingly more so than Corypheus or his red templars.” His words were not a question, not truly, but Nehn inhaled sharply nonetheless before looking over her shoulder at him.

“It’s not about what they’ve been doing, not exactly - though they’ve certainly made a mess of things here.” Nehn’s voice trailed off as she looked away, and a pang of familiarity shot through Solas that had him peering at her more closely. 

“This was once a beautiful land, a land where the elves were free to do as they wished, and the humans took that all away. And  _now_ , these  _shemlen_  wear the name of Freemen of the Dales. It’s an insult - not just to me, but to  _all_  the elves, to what we  _were_ , to what we’ve been forced to become, to the history we might have had if the  _shemlen_  had left us alone.” 

Something within Solas’ heart broke to hear Nehn speak in such a manner. She had not been alive to see the elven Halamshiral, but the pride in her people made his heart swell - both with pride, and with sorrow. In another life, her exact words might have been his own; as it was, they were simply a mirror, but what they mirrored he would never be able to tell her - even if he were developing feelings for her.

“It can be a beautiful land once more, Inquisitor -  _lethal’lan_ ,” he told her softly, gently, his fingers gently kneading her shoulder before she turned to face him and he had to swallow the sudden onset of feelings - he had never seen her eyes so very bloodshot, and Nehn so close to tears, and it was unnerving and upsetting at the very least.

“Not all is lost. You are still here, are you not? Once Corypheus is defeated, you can help the elves rebuild. Perhaps you might even lean on the leader of Orlais for the Dales once more - reclaimed for the elves in your name, and in the name of the Inquisition which saved the empire.” Such reassurances made her smile only slightly, but she did nod and inhale a deep breath, Solas’s hand sliding down from her shoulder to instead rub soothing circles below her shoulder-blades.


End file.
